I have no idea how I am going to compile a little over two weeks of an experience into one post, but I'm going to try.
Firstly, leaving LA involved a bit of foreshadowing into leaving San Francisco. The slider broke off of the zipper on my suitcase. Luckily, I was able to reattach it before my 6 hour bus ride up the Golden Coast.
For the entire time I stayed in a lovely home near the corner of Rivera and 44th Avenue only four blocks away from the Pacific Ocean. The first night after having Indian food delivered for dinner, I met my fellow housemate and soon to be friend Clare. She is a teacher from New Hampshire around my age. We hit it off very quickly, and thank goodness because we had a 30-40 minute commute into downtown everyday!
The number one thing I have to say for San Francisco in terms of convenience is that the public transportation is PHENOMENAL. The MUNI is the subway system that reaches through the center part of the peninsula from the Pacific Coast to Bayside. The subway cars are emition free and run on electricity once they get above ground as do some of the buses. There's also a bus system under MUNI that goes to all the other parts of the peninsula. It's only $2 a ride, but stops running around midnight. This dashed my dreams of any club action on a night off, but that was probably for the best.
BART, or Bay Area Rapid Transit, goes all the way from the airport across the Bay and into Oakland and Berkley. It's more expensive to ride but has nicer seats and less stops. Both of these systems played a key role in my carless adventures around the city. I'm the kind of person who hates driving, so this city was a dream. It's actually rather expensive to have a car because some places require you to pay to park it per month along with rent, and that charge can be as high as $500 or more.
I am going to have to be careful not to ramble on because I want to say so many things about this city I fell in love with so quickly. I'll just have to take you there to divulge all the information that wants to spill from my fingers.
For the entire two weeks, I was enrolled in a program called ITMI, or the International Tour Management Institute. It was started by Ted Bravos and his friend Bill. Ted is still an instructor along with Randy and a few guest instructors throughout the two week program. I had no idea what I was getting into. I thought it might just be a $3000+ referral agency, but it's so much more. I now feel confident in doing something I never realized was the perfect career option for me. It mixes a love of people, theatre, and traveling into one job. I have to thank Ted, Randy, Reggie, Sandi, and Korey so much for everything. I also have to give a shout out to my 20 female classmates. I was class 277, and it was the first time there was only one guy ever.
Back to San Francisco, originally called Yerba Buena, or "Good Herb" after a peppermint like plant in the area. It was one of the last missions established by the Spanish born Franciscan monk Junipero Serra on his Camino Real up the coast of California. Due to its geographical location, it tends to be on the cooler side temperature wise, especially during the summer months. The heat from the Eastern side of the state pulls the cold wet air mass of the Pacific over the city enveloping it in a beautiful fog. You can literally see it roll into the city in the morning and come back again before the sunsets. It's gorgeous.
Another thing I love about San Francisco is the diversity. There are over 90 distinct neighborhoods with individual personalities. From the Latin American Mission to the LGBTQ friendly Castro, there's something for everyone. The food as well spans the many types of cuisine. Here are some highlights:
1. Homeroom: gourmet mac and cheese in Oakland for less than $10 a entree. I WANT TO EAT IT ALL. I ended up getting the garlic with two types of cheese. It was phenomenal.
2. Bristol Farms: San Francisco is all about eating healthy and organically. This market has multiple locations and serves the freshest foods. I had their Tomato Basil soup more times than I care to admit in a sourdough bread bowl.
3. Lefty O'Doul's: named for a San Franciscan baseball legend, this cafeteria style restaurant and bar serves freshly carved sandwiches and daily specials for a crazy affordable price. I had their spaghetti, which was magnificent.
I hope to return to the city often. It will always have a special place in my heart because of it's promise of a new career, the new family I have in that career, and of all the things I learned and experienced there. Standing before Frida y Diego at SFMOMA was one of the highlights of this summer along with seeing the beauty of Burney Falls and realizing that there is a career out there for me in which I can find success and still be happy. I don't know if I'll ever be able to sit at a desk again, and I don't plan to find out. I do know that I will always have a good suit case so that I never again struggle up to the plastic wrap station at the airport because my bag has no sliders on the zipper and is held together with two belts and a trail of painters tape spanning two MUNI rides and one BART commute. If you're ever bored, please let me talk your ear off about this wonderful experience. Taylor got plenty of it after he picked me up from the airport at 1 in the morning. I can't wait to get started, so I already called and am visiting the department of tourism for Birmingham and hopefully getting a job as a local guide to save up some money for DC!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
All I Wanna Do is Have Some Fun
My life was a Cheryl Crow for a day. My family moved out of our Disneyland hotel, which was also The Disneyland hotel, and checked in at the Holiday Inn Express just off of Hollywood Blvd and near the Dolby Theatre, where the Academy Awards are held and where currently there is a Cirque du Soleil show called IRIS.
We had big plans for Saturday, so my family wanted to rest the day before to have enough energy. I luckily spied on facebook that three of my friends from college were going to spend the day at Santa Monica pier. My friend Phoebe moved out to LA a few months ago, so she had a car. This made traveling to Santa Monica rather easy even if she refuses to use highways and freeways. It just meant that we were able to see more of he city as we drove there.
Phoebe had never been to the beach so we were happy to share that with her. Before we got to the water, we went to a burger place on the famous pier. It wasn't as grandiose as I was expecting. There were a few restaurants and a small fair like park. I don't know why I thought it would be a bigger deal. It was still an enjoyable day, though!
After the burger, we went down to the very crowded beach to get in the water. It was FREEZING. That's to be expected with the Pacific Ocean. Watching Phoebe feel water and sand for the first time was excellent. I think that's one of the reasons I'm most excited about being a tour director. I want to be there when people experience new things and see how they react to them.
After the dip in the water, we found a play ground area near the beach on the other side of the pier. It has a good amount of different exercise apparatuses that let you display your strength or lack of strength in my case. The most popular one was a set of hanging rings. People used their upper body strength to propel them selves forward to the next ring without letting their feet touch the ground. It was quite the spectacle to behold. We sat for a long time cheering people on from far enough away that they couldn't actually hear us.
Sarah joined us to go for a bite to eat in the actual city portion of Santa Monica. We found a great inexpensive fusion Mediterranean place where I got some awesome tacos. We spent the entire meal and time after singing old 90s songs while looking up the music videos to them. Phoebe mentioned liking Nickleback, and it all went downhill from there.
The next day my family did a very interesting tour of Los Angeles. Using the commonly seen hop on hop off bus tour. For each stop, we had a set list of instructions and clues to follow to figure out an answer which was worth so many points. We had so much fun getting off the bus and solving most of the puzzles. We even got a free milkshake! It was fun interacting with their placed actors along the way and solving the puzzles even if we were racing alone. It's all based on points and not time finished. Also, at the end we were given gold medals for getting enough points. I believe the company is called the Amazing Los Angeles Race, and they have these races in multiple locations like New Orleans and NYC. It's definitely worth the money.
Another highlight of the area was the El Capitan theatre on Hollywood Blvd. It's owned by Disney and has the Egyptian style architecture that was popular after the discovery of King Tut's tomb. The theatre is gorgeous and multitiered on the inside. I thought the ticket was a little pricey, but it was 3D and in LA so that balances out. Before the show classic Disney songs are played on an organ. Then, to my surprise, the people you thought were ushers do a twenty minute Broadway style song and dance medley intermingled with costumed Disney characters and ending with confetti and a large American flag being dropped from the ceiling. Finally, after all of this Brave started. The movie was great, and I recommend that everybody see it when it comes out.
We had big plans for Saturday, so my family wanted to rest the day before to have enough energy. I luckily spied on facebook that three of my friends from college were going to spend the day at Santa Monica pier. My friend Phoebe moved out to LA a few months ago, so she had a car. This made traveling to Santa Monica rather easy even if she refuses to use highways and freeways. It just meant that we were able to see more of he city as we drove there.
Phoebe had never been to the beach so we were happy to share that with her. Before we got to the water, we went to a burger place on the famous pier. It wasn't as grandiose as I was expecting. There were a few restaurants and a small fair like park. I don't know why I thought it would be a bigger deal. It was still an enjoyable day, though!
After the burger, we went down to the very crowded beach to get in the water. It was FREEZING. That's to be expected with the Pacific Ocean. Watching Phoebe feel water and sand for the first time was excellent. I think that's one of the reasons I'm most excited about being a tour director. I want to be there when people experience new things and see how they react to them.
After the dip in the water, we found a play ground area near the beach on the other side of the pier. It has a good amount of different exercise apparatuses that let you display your strength or lack of strength in my case. The most popular one was a set of hanging rings. People used their upper body strength to propel them selves forward to the next ring without letting their feet touch the ground. It was quite the spectacle to behold. We sat for a long time cheering people on from far enough away that they couldn't actually hear us.
Sarah joined us to go for a bite to eat in the actual city portion of Santa Monica. We found a great inexpensive fusion Mediterranean place where I got some awesome tacos. We spent the entire meal and time after singing old 90s songs while looking up the music videos to them. Phoebe mentioned liking Nickleback, and it all went downhill from there.
The next day my family did a very interesting tour of Los Angeles. Using the commonly seen hop on hop off bus tour. For each stop, we had a set list of instructions and clues to follow to figure out an answer which was worth so many points. We had so much fun getting off the bus and solving most of the puzzles. We even got a free milkshake! It was fun interacting with their placed actors along the way and solving the puzzles even if we were racing alone. It's all based on points and not time finished. Also, at the end we were given gold medals for getting enough points. I believe the company is called the Amazing Los Angeles Race, and they have these races in multiple locations like New Orleans and NYC. It's definitely worth the money.
Another highlight of the area was the El Capitan theatre on Hollywood Blvd. It's owned by Disney and has the Egyptian style architecture that was popular after the discovery of King Tut's tomb. The theatre is gorgeous and multitiered on the inside. I thought the ticket was a little pricey, but it was 3D and in LA so that balances out. Before the show classic Disney songs are played on an organ. Then, to my surprise, the people you thought were ushers do a twenty minute Broadway style song and dance medley intermingled with costumed Disney characters and ending with confetti and a large American flag being dropped from the ceiling. Finally, after all of this Brave started. The movie was great, and I recommend that everybody see it when it comes out.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Part of that World
Well, as I sadly knew, photos I post via my Macbook never stay loaded on the page. I may just be doing it wrong, but it is the ONE thing that is easier on a PC. So until I figure this out my travel blog will be lacking photographic evidence of my trips.
After the lengthy trip to and from San Diego, I met my parents and brother at LAX to begin our Disneyland adventure. If you know me for longer than a minute, you discover that my family has an obsession with Disney World. I'm not lying when I say that I can't tell you how many times I've been to the parks.
To mix it up, we decided to go to Disneyland since I had to be in California anyway a week later. We spent only three days in the two parks, which was plenty. If you have the endurance, you can really do the parks in just two days, but if you like to take your time or wake up later in the day it may take you more time.
The two parks are Disneyland and California Adventure, and they are situated across from one another with barely a football field between them. This makes it easy to go from park to park if you've purchased the Park Hopper option on your ticket. Another convenience it that all three Disney hotels are within walking distance, so you'll be able to go back to your room and rest if you need.
My overall rating is unimpressed. I'm glad we went as a onetime thing, but I would not likely return. Disney World just spoiled me. Four parks with a myriad of restaurants and attractions that can keep you engaged for days. I did enjoy myself, but it just wasn't the same I was glad to experience some of the new rides in Carsland and the rest of California Adventure. Also, many of the rides that are in both parks were actually better at Disneyland! It lacked the same caliber of restaurants and that feeling of magical escape because it is so close to the major roads of Anaheim.
Now I'll get a little more specific about each park and some suggestions. Firstly, Californians share something in common with me. They love to sleep in and take their time getting somewhere. Because of this, the best time to go to either park is first thing in the morning and staying late. The parks are open as late as midnight. On our first day, we were almost finished with everything at Disneyland by lunch because the lines were so short. This was partly due to the new attractions opening in Carsland at California Adventure. The line to get a FASTPASS for the Radiator Springs Racers is just as lengthy as the line for the ride itself.
Right after lunch both parks fill up and lines are just as long as you'd expect them to be in the middle of summer. You can't let yourself get too distracted or you might miss a celebrity or two. On the way out of the Haunted Mansion, my mother's wheelchair was pushed up to a chain that needed to be unclipped, so a nice boy unclipped it for us and let as pass. We look back only to discover that the four sisterwives and children along with Kody were waiting to get on, and one of the kids had been the one to help us out.
While Disneyland is pretty comparable to Magic Kingdom at Disney World, there is one feature worth visiting the park for. That is the Indiana Jones adventure ride. A group of twelve sit in a jeep that is going into a tomb to explore but end up invoking a curse. The jeep speeds through the temple escaping fire, bugs, snakes, and boulders. The ride is beautifully crafted and involves impressive special effects and ride technology. It's a similar experience to the Dinosaur ride, formerly known as Countdown to Extinction, at Disney's Animal Kingdom, but it is infinitely better.
California Adventure was filled with new things to experience. Some highlights were their pier style "wooden " roller coaster and the Little Mermaid ride. I loved them both for different reasons. One was a great thrill ride and the other went through all of the music of one of my favorite movies. It's definitely good for a one time visit. The ride in Carsland is even worth the wait if it isn't constantly breaking down. It'll be much better once the novelty of it being new wears off.
My personal favorite part of the trip was beating will and the Toy Story Mania attraction. It's a ride where you play carnival style games via a 3D video game. You accumulate points based on how many targets you hit. Will tends to KILL me at these games, but one time I was able to win. It's on my top ten lists of accomplishments.
More information about all Disney parks can be found here. http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/ If you have any specific questions or want recommendations, let me know!
After the lengthy trip to and from San Diego, I met my parents and brother at LAX to begin our Disneyland adventure. If you know me for longer than a minute, you discover that my family has an obsession with Disney World. I'm not lying when I say that I can't tell you how many times I've been to the parks.
To mix it up, we decided to go to Disneyland since I had to be in California anyway a week later. We spent only three days in the two parks, which was plenty. If you have the endurance, you can really do the parks in just two days, but if you like to take your time or wake up later in the day it may take you more time.
The two parks are Disneyland and California Adventure, and they are situated across from one another with barely a football field between them. This makes it easy to go from park to park if you've purchased the Park Hopper option on your ticket. Another convenience it that all three Disney hotels are within walking distance, so you'll be able to go back to your room and rest if you need.
My overall rating is unimpressed. I'm glad we went as a onetime thing, but I would not likely return. Disney World just spoiled me. Four parks with a myriad of restaurants and attractions that can keep you engaged for days. I did enjoy myself, but it just wasn't the same I was glad to experience some of the new rides in Carsland and the rest of California Adventure. Also, many of the rides that are in both parks were actually better at Disneyland! It lacked the same caliber of restaurants and that feeling of magical escape because it is so close to the major roads of Anaheim.
Now I'll get a little more specific about each park and some suggestions. Firstly, Californians share something in common with me. They love to sleep in and take their time getting somewhere. Because of this, the best time to go to either park is first thing in the morning and staying late. The parks are open as late as midnight. On our first day, we were almost finished with everything at Disneyland by lunch because the lines were so short. This was partly due to the new attractions opening in Carsland at California Adventure. The line to get a FASTPASS for the Radiator Springs Racers is just as lengthy as the line for the ride itself.
Right after lunch both parks fill up and lines are just as long as you'd expect them to be in the middle of summer. You can't let yourself get too distracted or you might miss a celebrity or two. On the way out of the Haunted Mansion, my mother's wheelchair was pushed up to a chain that needed to be unclipped, so a nice boy unclipped it for us and let as pass. We look back only to discover that the four sisterwives and children along with Kody were waiting to get on, and one of the kids had been the one to help us out.
While Disneyland is pretty comparable to Magic Kingdom at Disney World, there is one feature worth visiting the park for. That is the Indiana Jones adventure ride. A group of twelve sit in a jeep that is going into a tomb to explore but end up invoking a curse. The jeep speeds through the temple escaping fire, bugs, snakes, and boulders. The ride is beautifully crafted and involves impressive special effects and ride technology. It's a similar experience to the Dinosaur ride, formerly known as Countdown to Extinction, at Disney's Animal Kingdom, but it is infinitely better.
California Adventure was filled with new things to experience. Some highlights were their pier style "wooden " roller coaster and the Little Mermaid ride. I loved them both for different reasons. One was a great thrill ride and the other went through all of the music of one of my favorite movies. It's definitely good for a one time visit. The ride in Carsland is even worth the wait if it isn't constantly breaking down. It'll be much better once the novelty of it being new wears off.
My personal favorite part of the trip was beating will and the Toy Story Mania attraction. It's a ride where you play carnival style games via a 3D video game. You accumulate points based on how many targets you hit. Will tends to KILL me at these games, but one time I was able to win. It's on my top ten lists of accomplishments.
More information about all Disney parks can be found here. http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/ If you have any specific questions or want recommendations, let me know!
Where is the World is San Diego?
I actually didn't realize how far south it was in California, but that's a different, less interesting story. For the next few weeks, I plan on attempting to make this more of a travel blog and less about the banalities of my life, though I'm sure you enjoyed those as well.
I spent the past week in Los Angeles with my family but made a few side trips to different cities and attractions in the area. I'll go chronologically, so my first focus will be the lovely San Diego. If you're wanting to travel to San Diego from Los Angeles, the trip should take around two to two and a half hours. Notice the word "should." I got to LA two days early so that I could spend some time with my friend Sarah before the intense family vacation began, and she really wanted to go to the world famous San Diego Zoo. We slept in a little Saturday due to my late arrival time and got on the road around 11.
Don't do that. If you want to make a day trip over the weekend, leave early. LA traffic pretty much never ends, but leaving during lunch hours is not intelligent. This decision along with her car refusing to accelerate at one point resulted in it taking us five hours to arrive in San Diego. It's a fairly easy drive. There were just a plethora of people making the same one. Luckily, we broke up the driving with a nice trip to a fast food Mexican chain called Del Taco. It's a big step up from Taco Bell and still rather cheap, but nothing can compare to my love of Taco Casa, especially when there's not even sweet tea.
Once we finally got to San Diego, Sarah and I parked in the zoo parking lot FOR FREE, which was a nice surprise. It was just to get our guards down before we had to pay admission. A general admission ticket runs around $42 for an adult, and it only goes up from there if you want any of the special tours or the 3D show. This price is well worth the amount of money. The zoo seems to be as large as some theme parks. The land is expansive enough that some guests choose to pay a small extra fee to ride a double decker bus around the property to see all of the exhibits in a timely manner without having to walk up and down all of the steep hills. So if you dislike walking or have someone in your group that has trouble with steep hills or walking for long periods of time, this might be the option for you.
We arrived, due to our out of the ordinary travel time, around 4 in the afternoon. The Zoo stays open until 9 and has a great light show at night. Unfortunately, it doesn't get dark until late during the summer, so the lights aren't as enjoyable as they might be during other times of the year. We stayed at the zoo four for hours and were able to see all of the major attractions while walking all of the trails, so if you arrive early in the day it's easy to walk and get everything done.
Just a note, most animals are really active in the morning and the late afternoon and evening, so during lunch time when it's really hot outside most of them are rather lethargic. It's a good idea to plan around this time if you want to see the animals do more than lie down. While the pandas are the main draw of the zoo and unlike some zoos viewing them is included in admission, the portion I loved most was the aviary. There are actually a couple of aviaries on the grounds. All of them are enclosed but have fresh, open air and are multi-leveled. This means that you can walk across a bridge at different levels in the trees to see the many species of birds as they fly around you and in front of you. It's beautiful and one of the most natural experiences that you can get in a zoo. I generally hate seeing animals being caged in, but the San Diego Zoo does a good job of giving the animals larger habitats, though not as impressive as Disney's Animal Kingdom. I am glad I was able to go, but I do not think I would go again just because of the cost. It is an excellent onetime experience! Here's their website if you want ore information about admission prices and the different exhibits. http://www.sandiegozoo.org/
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Hasta La VISTA from a Place of Rest and Vision
I have been unemployed after my VISTA year at Red Cross and homeless for one week now. I am currently sitting in the Birmingham "Internaltional" (jajajajajaja) Airport where there is ZERO air conditioning. Luckily Sumatanga has built up my resistance to such a problem over the past week, so it's like I brought camp with me.
This week has been incredible. This post is going to delve into faith, which I haven't really talked about over the past year. I've thought that my loneliness in Tuscaloosa had to do with a lack of friends and a stressful job, but what I didn't realize is how large a role a faith community has played in my life up until this point. The Wesley Foundation served that purpose throughout college, but once that was no longer an option I just became a sporadic church attendee without forming bonds with anyone at the churches I attended.
Whilst in a service at one of the aforementioned churches, I was struck with the idea of going to camp during my one transitionary week. In order to do this, I cancelled my previously planned beach excursion, and I knew I'd have to drive back and forth to go to rehearsals. I was so excited for the opportunity that it didn't matter. Oddly, I was more excited about going to camp than I was about going to California a week later.
When I went to fill out the counselor application, I discovered that the directors were two people with whom I have been friends for a long time, Mary and Timmy Collins, so that made me even more excited. After my going away party last Friday, I woke up and drove straight to camp with a small pit stop in Hoover to pack and bathe in less than an hour.
The first day was awkward since there was no one I knew really well, and the scholarship counselors that are there all summer already had such a strong bond. By the end of the week, I felt like I had been there the entire summer with them. I made the realization that Sumatanga is so much more than a place. I've missed camp for two years, but I visited to bring friends from college there. This week made me see that it wasn't the place I missed it was the people and the community that they created. There are so few opportunities to spend a week in Alabama heat and humidity where your appearance doesn't matter nor do your love for crafts, lack of softball abilities, and love for singing parodies of Disney songs.
The theme of the week was Just Add Water, which was a perfect metaphor for camp. I went in there parched but was able to pour myself out into making a beautiful week for all of the campers, but I was also refilled with a new revitalization of my faith. This is exactly what I was hoping for and desperately needed. I hated leaving early today, especially with my flight changing to 7:25.
I don't want to bore you with all the details, but I'll include some highlights in the form of a Top 10 List that has no ranking importance, a combination rather than a permutation, if you will.
1. I sang my original lyrics to "Part of Your World" to be "That Craft Hut Girl." Only a few campers didn't recognize it as a song from The Little Mermaid and thought I was just constantly forgetting the words.
2. I met some great people. My co-counselor, Carmen and her beautiful imperfections, Mason and his handlebar mustache, Holly and her broken leg, Jennifer and her ability to lead multiple groups over the week, and a great band are just a few.
3. I got to revisit old friendships with Tom, Mary, Timmy, Jenny, Cary, Sami, et al while I was there. Some of these people I hadn't seen in years, but it didn't seem that way at all.
4. I had the loudest cabin, which seems to always happen. They end up growing on you by the end of the week, especially when they quietest they are is when they request you to sing a song or when you're reading Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
5. Apparently I look like Frodo, Rick Astley, and Alexander from the previously mentioned book.
6. There was an evening program about finding God in the chaos of life, which really spoke to me because of the year I've had with the tornado, three different apartments, and a job that consisted of dealing with disasters. The program involved a labyrinth of chairs all in odd positions that just brought me back to the devastation I saw in Tuscaloosa, Phil Campbell, and Centerpoint.
7. I love making nametags for people especially when I can theme them after Disney movies. I made a pretty good one with Mason's name being a mustache on a face and a Cinderella one for Emalee with the "a" as a pumpkin and the rest of the letters as vines coming off of it.
8. The kids were so great this week. I love playing games with them, trying to make them think in small groups, and interacting with them in meals and services. I'm still in the age range in which junior high students find you cool just by existing, so that makes it even better.
9. I actually scored two runs and caught an out in the camper counselor softball game. That almost makes up for the 15 or so pitches it took for me to hit the ball one time...
10. I overcame my competitive nature and allowed a child to stay in a round of ships and sailors. I only did this after I had bumped them out of the four men eating circle and let them take my place instead. At least it's improvement?
Camp was wonderful, and I cannot wait until I can call Sumatanga my home again. Hopefully, next summer I'll be able to be there a little longer. I have too many nametags to make and too many songs to sing for just one week.
This week has been incredible. This post is going to delve into faith, which I haven't really talked about over the past year. I've thought that my loneliness in Tuscaloosa had to do with a lack of friends and a stressful job, but what I didn't realize is how large a role a faith community has played in my life up until this point. The Wesley Foundation served that purpose throughout college, but once that was no longer an option I just became a sporadic church attendee without forming bonds with anyone at the churches I attended.
Whilst in a service at one of the aforementioned churches, I was struck with the idea of going to camp during my one transitionary week. In order to do this, I cancelled my previously planned beach excursion, and I knew I'd have to drive back and forth to go to rehearsals. I was so excited for the opportunity that it didn't matter. Oddly, I was more excited about going to camp than I was about going to California a week later.
When I went to fill out the counselor application, I discovered that the directors were two people with whom I have been friends for a long time, Mary and Timmy Collins, so that made me even more excited. After my going away party last Friday, I woke up and drove straight to camp with a small pit stop in Hoover to pack and bathe in less than an hour.
The first day was awkward since there was no one I knew really well, and the scholarship counselors that are there all summer already had such a strong bond. By the end of the week, I felt like I had been there the entire summer with them. I made the realization that Sumatanga is so much more than a place. I've missed camp for two years, but I visited to bring friends from college there. This week made me see that it wasn't the place I missed it was the people and the community that they created. There are so few opportunities to spend a week in Alabama heat and humidity where your appearance doesn't matter nor do your love for crafts, lack of softball abilities, and love for singing parodies of Disney songs.
The theme of the week was Just Add Water, which was a perfect metaphor for camp. I went in there parched but was able to pour myself out into making a beautiful week for all of the campers, but I was also refilled with a new revitalization of my faith. This is exactly what I was hoping for and desperately needed. I hated leaving early today, especially with my flight changing to 7:25.
I don't want to bore you with all the details, but I'll include some highlights in the form of a Top 10 List that has no ranking importance, a combination rather than a permutation, if you will.
1. I sang my original lyrics to "Part of Your World" to be "That Craft Hut Girl." Only a few campers didn't recognize it as a song from The Little Mermaid and thought I was just constantly forgetting the words.
2. I met some great people. My co-counselor, Carmen and her beautiful imperfections, Mason and his handlebar mustache, Holly and her broken leg, Jennifer and her ability to lead multiple groups over the week, and a great band are just a few.
3. I got to revisit old friendships with Tom, Mary, Timmy, Jenny, Cary, Sami, et al while I was there. Some of these people I hadn't seen in years, but it didn't seem that way at all.
4. I had the loudest cabin, which seems to always happen. They end up growing on you by the end of the week, especially when they quietest they are is when they request you to sing a song or when you're reading Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
5. Apparently I look like Frodo, Rick Astley, and Alexander from the previously mentioned book.
6. There was an evening program about finding God in the chaos of life, which really spoke to me because of the year I've had with the tornado, three different apartments, and a job that consisted of dealing with disasters. The program involved a labyrinth of chairs all in odd positions that just brought me back to the devastation I saw in Tuscaloosa, Phil Campbell, and Centerpoint.
7. I love making nametags for people especially when I can theme them after Disney movies. I made a pretty good one with Mason's name being a mustache on a face and a Cinderella one for Emalee with the "a" as a pumpkin and the rest of the letters as vines coming off of it.
8. The kids were so great this week. I love playing games with them, trying to make them think in small groups, and interacting with them in meals and services. I'm still in the age range in which junior high students find you cool just by existing, so that makes it even better.
9. I actually scored two runs and caught an out in the camper counselor softball game. That almost makes up for the 15 or so pitches it took for me to hit the ball one time...
10. I overcame my competitive nature and allowed a child to stay in a round of ships and sailors. I only did this after I had bumped them out of the four men eating circle and let them take my place instead. At least it's improvement?
Camp was wonderful, and I cannot wait until I can call Sumatanga my home again. Hopefully, next summer I'll be able to be there a little longer. I have too many nametags to make and too many songs to sing for just one week.
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